Lasting Friendships
by DrtyMxcnOfAsz
Summary: SV After the season 3 finale, Vaughn had left for DC. Now, ten years later, he comes back to LA hoping to rekindle the romance and friendship he once had with Sydney. Two chapter update!
1. Chapter 1

Hey! This is my first fanfic. I hope you guys enjoy it! Please review! 

**Title:** Lasting Friendships

**Author: **DrtyMxcnOfAsz

**Summary: **S/V of course! Months after the season 3 finale, ATY, Vaughn was assigned to go head up the CIA office in DC. Ten years later, he has returned to LA, trying to rebuild the friendship and rekindle the romance he once had with Sydney.

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, I do not own any of this.

**Rating:** K+ or PG

* * *

Lasting Friendships

Chapter 1

Sydney Bristow walked to the back booth of a café in LA where she was supposed to meet a man she hadn't seen or talked to in ten years. Of course there were letters and Christmas cards. When Sydney saw Vaughn, she froze in her tracks. He still was as gorgeous as ever. His eyes still had that hypnotizing gaze that a girl could stare at for hours and his smile that could light up any dark room.

Michael Vaughn stood from his seat when his former girlfriend and agent, Sydney Bristow, arrived at his table. They had arranged to meet at the local bar, Walker's, when she learned that he would be back in LA for a couple weeks, months, or maybe even permanently.

Sydney remembered that horrible day in August when she learned that Vaughn was going to move to DC with his new wife, Lauren.

* * *

CIA Headquarters

Ten Years Earlier

Ever since waking up in Honk Kong and learning Vaughn was married, the past six months of Sydney's life had been hectic and exhausting. However, over the past months, she had learned to deal with Vaughn's marriage on the inside, careful to never let her true feelings show.

A couple weeks after she was rescued from Hong Kong, she couldn't take it any longer and had to go talk to Vaughn. He agreed to meet with her at a restaurant so that they could discuss their situation. For the better part of the first hour, they both tried different ways to break the uncomfortable silence. But, at the end of the night, Sydney and Vaughn agreed that they would try hard to mend their broken friendship after giving each other an awkward hug.

It was tough at first, especially with Vaughn being married to Lauren and her working at CIA headquarters. Over the past months, their friendship with one another was rebuilding its way back to how it used to be. One day, the latest secretary, Sarah, knocked on Sydney's door telling her that Devlin wanted to see her.

Wondering what it was about, Sydney knocked on the conference door and entered. She saw that everyone was already in there. The group consisted of her father, Marshall, Dixon, Weiss, Vaughn, and Lauren. "Sydney, please have a seat," Devlin said while gesturing to her chair.

Devlin continued, "You're all probably wondering why I called you in here today. Well, I'm just going to come out and say it. Mr. Vaughn has been appointed to head up one of the offices in the DC area and Ms. Reed has been called back to the DC branch of the NSC. So, I just wanted to inform all of you of this. That is it people."

Sydney's heart dropped on the inside while forcing a small smile and congratulations to Vaughn and Lauren, who was sitting beside her. Devlin informed Vaughn and Lauren that they were due in DC in two weeks and that they should go home and start packing.

Vaughn said goodbye to several friends and colleagues and left promises to write, call, and even email.

But, he quickly broke his promise. At first, he would email Weiss, Sydney, and even Marshall every week. That turned into once a month and then into just Christmases and birthdays. On his second Christmas card, Sydney noticed that it was signed only by Vaughn, and not Vaughn and Lauren, like the first Christmas card he had sent. This went on for the next couple of years until he called her one day at the office, telling her that he wanted to meet with her.

* * *

Sydney's Office

That Morning

"Ms. Bristow, there's a call for you on line one," said Sydney's secretary.

"Thank you Liz." Syd picked up the phone and was surprised to find out who was on the other side.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hey Syd," came the voice of Michael Vaughn.

"Vaughn. Hi."

"Hi, Syd. Listen, I'm going to be in LA for a couple of weeks or months and I was wondering if we could get together."

"I don't know Vaughn, I'm really busy."

"Are you too busy to see one of your best friends?"

"I don't see what you mean Vaughn. I seem to remember one of my best friends left ten years ago."

"Please tell me you're still not mad about me leaving. It was a great opportunity for me and besides, Devlin assigned me to it."

"Vaughn, I wasn't mad at you for leaving, but if you were a good friend, you would have called or written."

"Sydney, I'm sorry, I got busy. It's not exactly very easy to head up a CIA office. Look, can I at least try make it up to you by meeting me for dinner at Walker's off of Tenth Street."

"I'm not sure if I can Vaughn."

"Okay, but I'll be there waiting for you in case you change your mind."

They both hung up the phone, wondering what it would be like to see each other again after all these years.

* * *

Walker's

"How have you been Syd?" asked Vaughn once they were seated.

"Good and you?" she replied, trying to keep the conversation as impersonal as possible.

"Busy. How's everyone doing?"

"Marshall married Carrie and they have three kids altogether. Oh yeah, Francie and Will just had their second child, a very adorable little boy."

"Really? What did they name him?"

"Devin Joseph. You should see him Vaughn, he's so cute."

"Anything else I should know about?" he asked, trying to keep the small talk going.

"Eric got married."

"Yeah, I know. I was at the wedding." Vaughn looked down at where his hands were folded and resting comfortably in his lap.

"You were? I didn't see you."

"I arrived right after the ceremony started and slipped in quietly in the back. I stayed just long enough to congratulate Eric and Jen, but I had to fly back to DC real soon."

They both sat in the uncomfortable silence for a couple of minutes until Sydney spoke up. "Vaughn, where's Lauren?"

"She and I divorced nine years ago," he said bluntly.

"I'm very sorry," Sydney said genuinely, while she tried to cover the smile slowly creeping upon her face.

"Don't be. Lauren and I were just never meant to be together. So, how about you Syd? Is there anyone in your life?" Vaughn asked as the waitress came up to take their order, trying to change the topic as quickly as possible.

"I'll have a coffee, black. Syd?"

"I'll have a coke." Sydney ordered and waited for the waitress to leave so that they could continue the conversation.

"So…" Vaughn continued.

"So what?"

"So, has there been a person to capture Sydney Bristow's heart?"

"Yeah…" Sydney smiled as she thought about the one waiting for her at home.

"What's he like? Do I know him?" Vaughn asked while the waitress placed their drinks and orders in front of them.

"No, you don't know him Vaughn. But, you would like him though."

"Tell me about this mysterious man that's got a hold of your heart."

"Well," Syd took a sip from her coke and continued. "He doesn't send me flowers or big pearl necklaces, but he can show me his smile and stop all my tears."

Syd stopped and laughed at a memory.

"What's so funny?" Vaughn asked.

"He always leaves me notes on the refrigerator when I come home from work and in the mornings, he always finds a note from me with his lunch."

"Wow, lucky guy," Vaughn stated.

"No, I'm the one who's lucky. He doesn't judge me for my past or for the dysfunctional family that I have."

Vaughn, who had a sad expression on his face, looked up and smiled.

"Vaughn, why did you want to meet with me?" Sydney asked, noticing his sad look.

"Truthfully?"

"Yes."

"I was going to be assigned back here in LA and since I would be here, I thought that we could start a relationship again or something like that. But, I can see that can't happen." Vaughn quickly changed the melancholy mood to a lighter one. "So Syd, tell me about prince charming."

"Wait a minute and I'll show you a picture." Sydney dug around in her purse and pulled out a wallet sized picture.

"We had these taken a couple of weeks ago."

She handed Vaughn the picture, which he quickly turned it over.

"Vaughn, that's my son, Jonathan Christopher Bristow."


	2. Chapter 2

Well, here's the next chapter! Thank you so much to those of you that reviewed! Hope you guys like this chapter... )

* * *

Chapter 2 

Vaughn's mouth hung open for five seconds, but he quickly recovered. "Your… son?"

"Yeah, my son," Sydney said dreamily.

With a sincere smile, Vaughn replied, "He's very cute. How old is he?"

"Well, Chris is turning six in a couple of months. He hates being called by his first name. I only named him Jonathan after my father and his middle name is Christopher because…" she trailed off.

"Because what?"

"I named him Christopher after your middle name…" Sydney looked down at her hands, waiting to hear Vaughn's reaction.

When Vaughn heard this, he was truly touched. "You mean after all these years, I still matter to you?" he asked skeptically.

"Vaughn, you have always mattered to me. I'm not going to lie to you and say that I wasn't hurt when you left or when you stopped calling or writing, because I was. But, in all that time, you've always been someone that's truly important to me. There's a space in my heart that's always going to be reserved only for you."

Very much moved by what she had just said, Vaughn got up from his chair and went to the other side of the table to give her a hug. He whispered in her ear, "You will always have a space in my heart that is meant for only you too."

The waitress chose that moment to come and deliver their food. Vaughn broke the hug reluctantly and went back to his seat. The rest of the night was filled with stories about what had happened in their lives since they last saw each other. For the first time in a long time, Sydney was extremely happy being with another man, who wasn't her son.

After finishing off their dinner and sitting there for two hours talking, the waitress came back with the check. Vaughn paid the bill, they both stood up to leave the restaurant.

Being the gentleman that he was, Vaughn offered, "Here, let me walk you to your car."

"Vaughn tonight has been absolutely wonderful. I came here tonight not knowing what to expect, but I am extraordinarily glad that I did. And as much as I don't want this night to end, I have to go back home to Chris and relieve the babysitter of his duties."

"Syd, I feel the exact same way. Tonight has been so incredible. Like you, I really wasn't sure what to expect either, but I'm glad that it turned out the way it did. I was wondering…"

"What?" she asked.

"I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me next Friday," Vaughn said with a smile.

Sydney felt her knees give way again at the sight of his smile. "Of course I would love to have dinner with you."

"It's a date then," Vaughn replied back. They exchanged phone numbers and addresses, with Vaughn promising to pick Sydney up at her house around seven o'clock.

Once they had reached Sydney's car, Vaughn opened the front door for her. Sydney gave Vaughn a quick kiss on the cheek and pulled back to gauge his reaction.

"What was that for?" he asked with a grin.

"For you being the amazing guy that you are."

She got into her car and waved a goodbye to Vaughn while she drove off. He stood there, waving back, thinking about the wonderful second chance that he just got to be with her.

* * *

I know it was kinda short, but I promise I'll get the next chapter up by tomorrow! 


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys! Thank you so much for all the reviews! As for who Chris' dad, the story will be revealed sometime soon. But not before some fluff of course! And then of course, there'll be some action coming up as well ).

* * *

Chapter 3

Tuesday

Vaughn's Office

The main reason why Vaughn had moved back was because he had been asked by Dixon to come back to the LA branch, so that he could work there part time rather than just quit the CIA altogether. It was going to be mostly paperwork now, but every once in a while, he would have a mission assigned to him. He was sitting in his office daydreaming about his upcoming date with Sydney, when he realized that he needed to call in reinforcements to give him all the help he needed. Just then, the phone rang and broke him out of his reverie.

"Hello?" Vaughn asked.

"Hey man, it's me. I heard you were back in town!"

Completely confused by who was on the other line he asked, "Um… me who?"

"Jeez buddy, you really should have kept in contact more. Not even recognizing the voice of your best friend. It's Weiss, duh."

"Eric! Hey man, what's up? I was just thinking about calling you actually."

"Let me guess… it's about Bristow, right?"

Vaughn was completely surprised by Eric's response. "Yeah, it's about Sydney. How did you know?"

On the other end, Eric smirked to himself. "Mike, whenever you think about calling me or talking to me, it's always about Sydney or you asking me to feed Donovan while you're away. I know that was a long time ago, but you still have that same tone in your voice when you talk about her."

"How did you know I was back in town though? I haven't seen or really spoken to you since your wedding. And for that, I'm really sorry for not keeping in contact more often."

"It's alright man. As for me knowing, Syd called me two days ago. She told me you were back in town, so I figured I would wait for you to call. But, seeing as how you never did, I figured I would call you. And when Sydney told me that you were taking her out on a date, I knew that you needed all the help that you can get," Weiss teased.

The two men talked on the phone for nearly forty-five minutes, trying to perfect Vaughn's date with Sydney.

"Only three days left…" Vaughn thought to himself as he picked up the phone to dial a number.

* * *

Friday Night 5:45 

Vaughn's House

Vaughn had been sitting around on the couch, watching the Kings game when he heard the doorbell ring. He got up from the couch and opened the door. When he opened the door, he was surprised by who was there.

First, Weiss walked in the door, saying to Vaughn, "Man, what are you doing? You have a date with Syd in less than two hours."

"Hey Mike," said Will as he made his way past Vaughn.

And finally, Jack Bristow walked in the door. "Mr. Vaughn, I suggest that you go turn off the TV and get changed for your date with my daughter."

Vaughn's mouth hung wide open once he saw Jack breeze by him. "Ye... ye… yes, sir," he stammered. Never in a million years would Vaughn have guessed that the first time he saw Jack Bristow in ten years would be in the comforts of his own home.

A couple of minutes later, Vaughn reemerged from his bedroom door, buttoning up the top button of his shirt. "I feel like I'm on that show from a couple years back… queer eye for the straight guy, or something like that," he muttered under his breath.

"What did you say Mr. Vaughn?" Jack glared at him.

Looking at Vaughn's choice of clothes, Will spoke up. "Hey man, you're not really considering wearing that tonight, are you? I know I'm not exactly a fashion expert, but after being married to Francie for that long, I kind of know what women like to see guys wear."

He looked down at what he was wearing and saw that Will had a point. Vaughn was wearing a dull gray suit that looked like something Jack would wear to work. In an exasperated sigh, he said, "Fine. Do whatever you guys want. My closet is your closet."

"Ooh, this will be so much fun," Eric said in a high falsetto voice. Still with the very fake feminine voice, Eric pulled out a green shirt and held it up to Vaughn. "I'm sure this will absolutely match your eyes, you handsome dog you."

Rolling his eyes, Vaughn grabbed the shirt out of Weiss' hands and also grabbed the jacket and pants that were in Jack's hands. Once Vaughn walked out of his bedroom door, the three men looked at each other, knowing that they had accomplished what they had come to do.

"Mr. Vaughn, please walk me to the door," instructed Jack.

When they reached the door, Vaughn opened his mouth to say thanks, but was quickly cut off by Jack. "Let me make this clear to you Mr. Vaughn. If you hurt my daughter or my grandson in anyway, I will come after you." Then, Jack straightened up Vaughn's tie and smirked at him slightly. "Have a good time Mr. Vaughn."

* * *

Friday 

Sydney's Work

Ever since Sydney found out that she was pregnant with Chris, she had decided to quit the CIA altogether. Instead, she got a job teaching high school English literature at the local high school, West Enloe High. It was during her fourth period class when someone knocked on the door.

A scrawny delivery kid came through the door carrying a bouquet of roses behind him. "Delivery for a Sydney Bristow."

"Ooooh… Ms. Bristow has a boyfriend," one of the jocks sitting in the back taunted.

Sydney pulled out the card that was stuck among the roses. It read, "Thinking of you. Can't wait to see you tonight. –V." She tried to suppress the big smile that was creeping up on her face, but she couldn't do it. "Only a couple of hours left," she thought. Sydney was in such a good mood that all of her remaining classes didn't get any assigned homework from her for the weekend.

* * *

A Couple of Hours Later 

Sydney had picked up Chris from his school and was now at home trying to get his dinner started before she left. On top of that, she was running around the house trying to find clothes to wear for her date that night. To say that it was very hectic around the house would have been an understatement. The doorbell rang, but she was busy in the kitchen cooking Chris' dinner. "Chris, sweetie, could you answer the door for me?"

"Auntie Francie!" squealed Chris.

Just then, Sydney made her way out of the kitchen and to the front door to greet Francie. "You are a life saver! Do you think you could watch Chris and what I'm cooking for a couple of minutes while I go take a shower?"

"Go ahead, take your time. Chris and I will have our own fun while we wait for you to get ready. Seriously girl, you need to hurry up because Michael will be here in less than an hour and a half to pick you up."

As Sydney was walking away, Chris tugged on Francie's shirt to get her attention. "Auntie Francie, who is Michael and where is mommy going tonight?"

"Michael is a very, very nice man that's going to take your mommy out for dinner tonight."

"Oh, ok," he replied, content with her answer. He strolled of to his room to go play with his toys, until his Sydney came out of the shower.

A couple of minutes later, Sydney was looking through her whole wardrobe in her closet trying to pick out the perfect dress for her. She was pulling out dresses and tossing them onto her bed left and right.

"Syd, you really should calm down. It's going to be fine."

"Chris, can you come in here?" she called out.

He merrily walked into the room and plopped himself down on the edge of her bed. "Chris, honey, which dress do you think looks better on mommy? The black or red?" she inquired. She held up to dresses that were exactly the same except in color. They both were spaghetti-strapped type dresses that fell just a little bit above her knees.

"Mommy, I think you look pretty in anything you wear. But, I think you should go with the black dress," he said very sweetly.

"Thank you very much, my handsome prince," she said as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. And with that, Sydney spent the next half hour perfecting her self.

While she was adding on the finishing touches to her makeup, the doorbell had rung. "It's show-time," she thought with a smile.

* * *

So, what'd you guys think? I would really love reviews to give me feedback winkwink ;-). 


	4. Chapter 4

Hey again guys! Thank you so much for all the reviews!

**Em-958:** Thank you so much for all reviews! I think you're one awesome person too just for all reviews. And as for the guy Syndey was referring to earlier in chapter 1, she was talking about her son, Chris. You'll just have to wait a couple more chapters to see who Chris' dad is ).

**Mary Kate113 & Trickster's Queen of War:** No... I haven't revealed who Chris' father is yet. But just keep with me for some more chapters. I promise Chris' father will make an appearance sometime during the course of this story ).

And for the rest of you guys reviewing, you guys are awesome! Please keep it up too! I really enjoy reading them!

And now on with the story. Vaughn and Syd's date winkwink!

* * *

Chapter 4

Michael Vaughn was standing at the door with a single red rose in one hand and a small package in the other. When Sydney opened the door, his mouth dropped to the floor. He had seen her dressed up before, but this time it was different. She was dressed up only for him. Vaughn couldn't get any words out and it took a friendly shove from Weiss to bring him back to his senses.

"Syd… you look incredibly beautiful tonight," he stuttered. Eric and Will looked at each other and rolled their eyes while Francie sighed.

Sydney giggled and said, "Vaughn, you look very handsome tonight too. What do you have here?" she asked, pointing to the items in his hand.

"It's a rose for you."

"You're not going cheap on me here, are you?" she teased. "I hope that you didn't spend all your money on those beautiful flowers that you sent me today, which I loved very much. Thank you for them."

"You're welcome. But, no, I'm not going cheap on you," he chuckled, "This was the only perfect rose I could find; anything less than perfect would be unacceptable for you."

At that moment, she gave him a hug. She wished that they could stay like that forever, but she remembered that there were other people in the room. "I know that Will is here to baby-sit with Francie, but Eric, what brings you here?"

Weiss replied, "I had to bring Will over here. And besides, how could I not come over and see what a job well done I did on helping Mikey boy get ready for your date."

"You did a great job, Eric," she said while beaming. Off to the side, Vaughn coughed real loudly.

"That will be my cue to leave," sniggered Eric.

Francie spoke up, "Will and I will walk you to your car, Eric."

When Sydney and Vaughn were left alone, he gave her another hug and she gave him a quick peck on the cheek. As she was about to give him another hug, she noticed that he was still carrying a small package in his hands. "What's that?" she asked.

"I was talking to Eric and he told me that Chris was into the toys, Bionicle. So, this is for him," he said while handing her the box.

"Thank you very much, Vaughn. You really didn't have to. But, speaking of Chris let me go say goodbye to him before I leave and give this to him."

Sydney walked down the hall and disappeared into a room. Vaughn followed and peered into the room that was decorated in sci-fi action figures. "Probably Marshall and Eric's influence," he thought.

Sydney entered her son's room and saw that he was playing with one of his action figures on the floor. When Chris saw his mother walk in the door, he jumped up from where he was playing and ran over and hugged her leg. Sydney moved him away from her leg and bent down to talk to him.

"Chris, mommy's leaving now."

"Okay," he sniffled. "Will you be here to tuck me in tonight?"

"Not tonight sweetie. When I get back you'll be asleep, but I promise to make it up to you tomorrow night. Is that alright?"

"Yeah," he said with a small smile.

"How about giving me a hug?" Chris launched his small body into Sydney's waiting arms. Vaughn looked into the room at that time and saw Sydney giving her son a hug. Chris also saw him looking into the room and buried his face into his mother's shoulder.

After a couple of seconds, Chris looked up and pointed at Vaughn, asking, "Mommy, who's that?"

Vaughn stepped into the room and bent down to Chris' level. "I'm Michael and you must be Chris?" Vaughn stuck out his hand and Chris hesitantly shook it.

"I want to thank you for letting me borrow your mommy tonight. How about next weekend we all go somewhere together? That way, I can get to know you better."

Sydney smiled at this, glad to know that Vaughn had already been making plans for next week.

"Okay," he replied, still a little afraid of the larger man.

"By the way, this is for you," Vaughn said, while handing him the package that was in Sydney's hand.

Chris tore the packaging off and got very excited. "Thank you very much Mr. Michael!" He had forgotten about everything else and sat down on the floor playing with his new toy.

Sydney and Vaughn walked out of Chris' room and out of the house. When they got out there, Sydney gasped at what she saw before her.

In front of them was a white stretch limo. Sydney looked at him quizzically and Vaughn shook his head, saying, "Not me."

As they proceeded down the driveway, they saw Francie, Will, and Eric standing in front of the limo. "Thank you guys so much!" both Sydney and Vaughn exclaimed.

"Think of it as your welcome home present Vaughn," Eric commented.

Francie squealed in delight, "I'm so happy for you, Syd."

"Well, you guys go and enjoy yourselves tonight. Francie and I will stay here with Chris until you get home Syd. And Eric and Jen will be watching our children, so you guys take all the time you want," said Will.

Sydney and Vaughn stepped into the limo and drove off to their restaurant.

* * *

Tratorria Di Amicizia 

The limo arrived at the restaurant around 7:45. The driver opened the door and Vaughn stepped out, extending his hand out to Sydney. "Hmm… a gentleman. I like it very much," Sydney teased.

"Sir, the car is yours for the evening. I will be waiting out here after you finish your meal." Vaughn nodded and they both entered the restaurant. The cozy Italian atmosphere was the perfect place for their second, first date.

Sydney noticed the name of the restaurant when she looked at the sign behind the maitre d'. She had realized why Vaughn had chosen this restaurant and it had moved her deeply. With the exception of the last word in the name of the restaurant and their location, it was almost exactly the same as their date at Tratorria Di Nardi's in Italy, ten years ago.

The waiter escorted them to a cozy table in the back. Normally, he would have asked the guests if they would care for a cocktail. However, Vaughn had called ahead and had ordered everything that they would need for that night. The waiter came back with a bottle of sparkling cider and poured two glasses. The two of them raised their glasses and clinked them. This time, no words were spoken; none were needed.

Vaughn looked over at Sydney and thought about how beautiful she really is. She looked back at him a placed her hand over his. "Are you happy?" she asked.

"How could I not be? Syd, I'm glad that after all these years, we found each other again. And I want to thank you for the chance that you've given me."

The waiter came back to the table and asked, "Excuse me sir, but are you ready for your salads?" Vaughn looked at Sydney, she smiled and shrugged.

"Yes, please bring them, thank you."

"Vaughn, we haven't even looked at the menu yet," she looked at him quizzically.

He responded, "Syd, I didn't want to waste time tonight looking over a menu when I could be looking at you. With the assistance of some very helpful friends, I have already ordered."

Sydney blushed and thought to herself, "This is going to be a habit with me whenever I'm around him."

The evening continued and the couple enjoyed their meal together. Just like their dinner the previous week, they talked about everything and nothing. In some ways they were as comfortable as any other time they had dined together before Sydney's disappearance, yet there was something in the air. Guests all around them looked at them and grinned at the evident feelings that Sydney and Vaughn felt for one another.

Sydney looked at her watch and realized it was nearly eleven o'clock. "Vaughn, I don't want this night to end, but I do have to get back home to Chris. You can come over and have some coffee if you like," she offered.

He readily accepted the offer and they headed back to Sydney's house.

When they arrived at the house, they saw that Will and Francie had fallen asleep in front of the TV together. Vaughn quietly woke them up while Sydney went to Chris' room to check in on him.

Will was the first one to awaken and gently shook his wife awake. Francie realized where she was and stood up.

"Thank you guys so much for looking after him," said Sydney.

Francie replied, "It was fun looking after the little guy." She leaned in closer and said, "Tomorrow morning, you're giving me all the details."

Francie and Will said their goodbyes and Sydney started making some coffee for the two of them. "Syd, thank you so much again for tonight."

"It's nothing, Vaughn. If anything, I should be the one saying thanks to you."

They sat in silence for a couple minutes, sipping their coffees and basking in the presence of one another.

It was close to midnight when Vaughn got up from the couch, ready to head on home. While walking Vaughn to his car, he told Sydney, "Don't make plans for next Saturday."

"Why?" she asked him with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Chris likes the circus, right?"

"Yeah…" she trailed off, not knowing where he was going with this.

"Well, what if I told I could get tickets."

"If you told me that, I would say you were crazy. I have been trying for weeks to get tickets to the circus because Chris really wants to go, but I have had no luck so far. If you can get them, then we're definitely going."

"I can. It's a date with the three of us then." he replied smugly.

Once they had reached his car, she pulled his head down and gave him a short tender kiss on the lips. They whispered a quiet goodbye to one another and Vaughn got into his car and drove home.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys! Thank you so much for all the reviews once again. Sorry, I can't comment on any of you guy's reviews this time. I have to go study for my exams this week and really only have a limited time. Sucks. The joys of high school. w00t! Anyways, hope you guys like this chapter as well. It's still some more fluff.

And also, about Chris' father, don't worry about... we'll get to him when we get to him ;-). haha. I'll just keep you guys guessing for a while... but I'm pretty sure I will be revealing who it is in a couple of chapters from now.

Ok, enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 5

Thursday

Vaughn's Office

Vaughn had been sitting at his desk when Dixon walked in and took a seat across from his desk.

"Thanks anyways." Vaughn hung up the phone and let out a sigh. Cradling his head in his hands, he looked up when he heard someone enter his office. Vaughn started to stand up, but Dixon motioned for him to sit.

"Problems, Vaughn?"

"More than you know."

"What's the problem?" Dixon asked. Ever since Vaughn had come back to work in that office again, things had been going very smoothly. And when he found out that things between Sydney and Vaughn were going very well, he was thrilled.

"I don't want to bother you sir. It's just some trouble getting some tickets."

"Don't tell me you want tickets for that latest American Idol winner," he snickered.

"No!" chuckled Vaughn. "Well Chris, Syd's son, wants to go to the circus that's in town this week, but she can't get tickets and I've tried all week. What's so great about a bunch of clowns and smelly monkeys anyways?" Vaughn then realized that he had just said that in front of Dixon. "I'm sorry Dixon, but it's just that this is really important to Chris and I want to make him happy."

"It's alright, Vaughn. So, you want to get on his good side by taking him to circus?"

"No sir. I mean, yes I want to take him to the circus, but not to get on his good side. I want to take him there because he really wants to go and I sense that he's probably had a lot of disappointments in his life."

"Where have you tried?" queried Dixon.

"Everywhere. I've called Ticket Master, the stadium, even some of my old contacts that know some scalpers. But, everyone is sold out."

"What would you say if I told you I could get you four tickets?"

"Dixon?" he asked, not understanding what Dixon was saying.

"I bought four tickets for my children and their children. But, none of them could make it. I was going to place an ad in the paper, but how would you like to have them?"

"Thank you very much Dixon. How much do I owe you?" Vaughn asked as Dixon pulled out the tickets from his wallet.

"Nothing at all. Think of it as your welcome home present from me. I also know how much you want to make Syd and Chris happy. Chris is a great kid, but if you upset him in any way, I'll have you know that Jack isn't the only one that's going to come after you." Dixon smiled and continued, "Have a good time."

Vaughn wasn't sure if he should be scared that this was his second threat about him hurting Sydney and Chris or if he should be happy that they had people that looked after them. He decided to go with the latter and picked up the phone to call Sydney.

* * *

Same Time 

The Teacher's Lounge at Sydney's School

Sydney was chatting with some of her fellow teachers in the teacher's lounge when her cell phone began to vibrate. "Excuse me," she said as she excused herself from the conversation.

"Bristow," she said.

"Don't make plans for Saturday," her caller said.

She responded, "And why would I do that?"

"Because…" he trailed off. "I just happen to have four tickets to that circus your son seems to be interested in."

"Vaughn, where and how did you get four tickets to the circus?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, Dixon had tickets that were supposed to be for his children and grandchildren, but they couldn't make it, so he gave them to me."

"He gave them to you," she stated.

"Yep, he said it was some kind of welcome home gift. Jeez, I should go away more often. I'm starting to like all these welcome home gifts that I'm getting," he teased. "First, the limo from Weiss and now these tickets from Dixon."

"Vaughn," she scolded, "Don't you dare joke about something like that. I'm never going to let you go away for a long time now that you're back."

"Don't worry, I'm just teasing you. I wouldn't think about leaving at all," he told her as a matter of fact. "Now, we have an extra ticket to the circus. Who should we take with us?"

"I was thinking about Francie and Will's older child, Bobby. He's really close to Chris' age and their both really good friends. I'm sure Francie and Will won't mind. What do you think?"

"I think I better show up on time on Saturday."

"You better," she mocked. "Why don't you call Will and ask him if Bobby would like to go."

"Ok," he replied. "So, what are you up to right now?"

"Right now I'm getting stared at by all the teachers in the lounge," she whispered as quietly as she could into the cell phone.

"And why is that, Ms. Bristow?" he said, knowing full well the answer.

"I think it has something to do with me blushing while I'm talking to you," she answered back as she grinned.

"Hmm, I thought as much."

Sydney and Vaughn talked on the phone for the next twenty minutes, talking about the random things from the weather to the King's scoring league. They would have gone on for another hour when one of the teachers tapped her on her shoulder, reminding her that the bell would soon ring.

"Hey Vaughn, I have to go for now though, the lunch period is almost over and I have to hurry back to class. I'll talk to you later though. Bye."

"Alright, talk to you later too. Bye."

As soon as Sydney pressed the off button, she looked up and saw that she had at least five pairs of eyes trained on her. "What?" she asked with an impish grin.

Kristi, one of the teachers there that was also her friend, spoke up, "Syd, you were on your cell phone for more than half of the lunch period. You have got to tell us who that was on the phone!"

Suddenly, all of the female teachers started bombarding her with questions. "Who is he? What's his name? Where did you meet him? How long have you known him? Is he cute?" they all asked. The questions just kept on coming until Sydney put her hands up to silence them.

She started to shy away to the door while telling her inquisitive colleagues, "Like you guys said, the bell's about to ring. So, sorry. I guess I'll tell you guys about him later."

All the girls became content with that answer while the men in the room groaned inwardly. Even in her late thirties, she could still attract men and attract them she did. More than half of the male teachers of the high school had asked her out at least once, but she had turned them all down.

Sydney kept on grinning mischievously until she had reached the door and said, "Talk to you guys later." And with that, she pulled the door shut behind her.

* * *

Ooh... a purple button! I wonder what it does...? You know you guys are wondering too... Now all you have to do is just click it!

Click it!

Click the purple review button!

haha, I wonder if that was enough of a hint... ).


	6. Chapter 6

Ooh, thank you guys so much for the reviews! Haha, I must admit that I did go overboard with the whole 'click the purple button' thing. Ehh, what can you do when you're bored and trying to avoid studying for midterms. Speaking of midterms, I so would rather be typing up more of this rather than studying for stupid english and physics... but that's life.

And as for Chris' father once more... Vaughn... huh?... who?... what?... when? ...? uh... not Vaughn, I was just kidding... or maybe I was kidding about kidding... or maybe not. Some other random guy?... huh?...who knows? haha

haha, ok so enough of that randomness. here's the next chapter!

* * *

Chapter 6

Saturday

Bristow Residence

Vaughn watched as Sydney finished getting ready to go to the circus. He had arrived early so that they could go and pick up Bobby from Francie and Will's.

"I'm ready," said Sydney. "Chris," she called out and the five year old, dark headed boy came running out of his room and jumped into Vaughn's arms.

"Thank you very much for taking me Mr. Michael," said the very polite Chris.

"No problem, buddy," Vaughn smiled. No matter what he tried to do, Chris wouldn't call him Michael, Mike, or Vaughn. He only called him Mr. Michael.

"You guys all ready?" asked Vaughn.

"Yep," replied Chris and Sydney at the same time.

"Then let's go," Vaughn said as he led them out to his car.

Sydney finished strapping Chris in and climbed into the front seat to go pick up Bobby.

* * *

Tippin Residence 

"Auntie Syd, Uncle Mike!" A small dark haired boy ran to the door and threw himself into Sydney's arms when she opened the door.

"Hey Bobby," said Vaughn as he picked up the little five year old boy and spun him around. Even though Vaughn didn't even really know Bobby, Francie and Will told him all about his cool Uncle Mike. Bobby had also heard about Vaughn through Chris, who was in his kindergarten class too.

"You ready to go?" asked Chris excitedly.

"Yep, yep, yep! Mooooooooomy! Daaaaaaaaaady!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, while Vaughn covered his ears.

"Bobby, be quiet. You could wake Devin up any second," scolded Francie as she walked to the door. But, Bobby didn't even really care about getting in trouble because he was already halfway out the door with Chris, all excited about the circus.

"Thanks for taking him with you guys," said Will while he shook hands with Vaughn and gave Sydney a hug.

Vaughn was the one to say the goodbyes because Sydney had all ready been dragged out the door by the two excited little boys. He had promised Will and Francie to have Bobby back by bedtime even though it was the weekend.

* * *

The Circus 

They had arrived at the circus an hour before the actual show began, giving them plenty of time to walk on the main floor and play around with the other clowns. There was this one clown that kept on following Sydney around and the other three guys found it quite amusing. However, Sydney didn't. She sent a piercing glare at Vaughn, telling him that if he was to laugh about the clown one more time, he would get it.

After the boys were tired of walking around on the main floor, they went to go find their seats, making it just in time before the house lights dimmed.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, we'd like to welcome you to the best show on earth!" announced the ringmaster. Just then the fireworks went off and the elephants, zebras, horses, and all the other animals started coming out.

"Look mommy! Look Mr. Michael!" Chris said to Sydney and Vaughn while pointing to all the animals that passed by, completely mesmerized.

The rest of the show had gone off without a hitch. From the tightrope act to the circus clowns to the "globe of death", every single part of the show captivated the attention of everyone in the audience.

When the show was over, the audience started to file out of the stadium. "Chris and Bobby how would you guys like some souvenirs?" asked Vaughn.

"Yes, please!" they both responded eagerly.

Vaughn bought them both some of the circus merchandise, making the boys very happy. And just as he had promised to Francie and Will, he had gotten Bobby back home in time for bed.

* * *

Sydney's House 

All throughout the car ride, Chris kept on babbling about all the amazing animals that he had seen. Sydney looked over at Vaughn, squeezing his hand and giving him a big smile.

When they had reached Sydney's house, Chris was totally drained of his energy. He had fallen asleep sometime during the car ride, so Vaughn carried him into the car. "Poor kid," smiled Vaughn.

While Vaughn was carrying Chris to his room and Syd trailing behind him, Chris had woken up. Vaughn carefully laid him down on the bed and stepped aside to let Sydney tuck him in.

"Mommy," he said as he pulled her closer to him. Chris whispered something in her that just totally made Sydney's heart melt.

"Vaughn, Chris has two things he would like to ask you," she said, beaming.

"Ok, shoot Buddy."

"Well, the first thing is, will you tuck me in tonight?" he asked very sweetly.

Vaughn grinned very brightly, touched by Chris' comment. "Of course I will. What's your second question?"

"Well," Sydney spoke up. "Chris has this 'event' at his school in a couple of weeks. Chris," she urged on.

"My kindergarten class is having a father/son competition, and I was wondering well…" Sydney nudged him to continue. "Well, will you be in the competition with me?" he asked with a very adorable face.

Vaughn took a seat beside Chris bedside. "Nothing would make me happier," he replied he said as a single tear slipped down his face.

"Mr. Michael, don't cry," Chris said as he wiped away the tear.

"I'm not crying because I'm sad Chris. That was a tear of happiness. Did you know that you just made me one of the happiest people on earth right now?"

Chris smiled shyly and said, "Thank you very much for agreeing… Michael."

The scene that was unfolding before Sydney touched her heart very deeply.

"Your welcome buddy," smiled Vaughn as he gave Chris a goodnight hug and tucked him in. Vaughn also silently thought to himself, "He didn't call me Mr. Michael, he only called me Michael. Yes!"

Sydney walked out of the room while Vaughn followed her out. He turned off the lights to Chris' room and shut the door.

* * *

The Living Room 

"Vaughn, I know you have plenty of questions about who Chris' father is…" she began.

She was about to continues, but was quickly shushed by him. "Sydney, I know I have plenty of questions about that, but now is not that time for that."

"Vaughn…" Sydney began again, but he put a finger on her lips.

"Let's leave it like it is right now," he said. He bent down and gave her a soft kiss and felt her smiling against his lips.

"Ok," she whispered back.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye," he said as he picked up his coat and walked out of the door.

"Bye," replied Sydney.

When Vaughn was out of the door, Sydney leaned back against the door and added quietly, "Love you."

Little did she know that on the other side of the door, Vaughn was doing the same thing. He had too had leaned back and quietly added his own, "Love you," once he was outside.

* * *

And everybody "awws"... haha, j/k.

How was that? Ok, well if Vaughn can wait a little while longer to figure out the mystery of Chris' daddy... then so can you! haha, ok, that was mean. I'm sorry. I blame too much chocolate and all this studying... not that it really has anything to do with it. um... so im going to stop right now, before i go on any further with more mindless babble. Later days.


	7. Chapter 7

Once again, thanks for all the reviews!

Sorry I haven't been able to update in a while. It is not exactly the best time to try and write stuff in the middle of exam week, haha. Well, only one last exam left tomorrow, then it's one more semester till I graduate! Woo hoo!

haha, ok I think you guys don't want to hear anymore about me and my lame high school life. Well, on with the story!

* * *

Chapter 7 

Over the next three weeks, Vaughn had been coming over to the Bristow residence at least four times a week. Whether it was to spend time with Chris practicing for the competition or to spend time with Sydney, he was having a great time. The competition was less than a week away a Vaughn and Chris were in the backyard practicing.

"Faster Michael, faster," giggled Chris.

They were both trying to practice the three legged race and had gotten quite good at it. Sydney was standing at the edge of the lawn with a camera in her hands, capturing these happy moments on film forever. She had the camera up to her face, getting ready to take another picture when she saw that Vaughn had picked Chris up and they were charging for her.

"Chris! Vaughn!" she exclaimed in an exasperated laugh.

They both helped Sydney up to her feet while crying out, "It was his idea!" at the same time while pointing their fingers at one another.

"Ok, ok, my little monsters," she mocked, "How about we go inside and you guys can help me prepare dinner?"

"Fine by me," said Vaughn.

Chris piped in, "I want to help too!"

* * *

Outside of the House 

A dark blue sedan was parked on the opposite curb of Sydney's house. The person inside the car put the binoculars up to their face and peered into the house.

The three of them had been working diligently over the past half hour cooking up some spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

Over to the side, Chris was helping Vaughn prepare the salad. All three of them looked like the perfect family. They were happy and carefree, without any concerns whatsoever.

The person inside the car tapped the dashboard with their fingernails. "Such a sweet looking family," the person said sinisterly. "This happy family will soon change," the person maniacally laughed.

* * *

Briarwoods Elementary 

Saturday

"Michael, can you please hurry up and park. Look, look, it's Bobby. Mommy, look at the field. Michael, look at all the ribbons and trophies at the table," exclaimed Chris excitedly as Vaughn passed through the parking lot.

"Chris, honey, calm down," chuckled Sydney. "There's going to be plenty of time for you to play with Bobby and there are also plenty of ribbons for you and Vaughn to win."

"Mommy, why do you call Michael, Vaughn?"

Vaughn had just finished parking the car underneath a tree and was about to answer him, when Chris' giddiness took over and he opened the car door quickly and jumped out.

"Jeez Syd, what did you feed that boy this morning?" teased Vaughn. He got out of the car and helped Sydney carry the picnic basket to where Will and Francie were already seated.

"Hey guys!" greeted Francie and Will. "Vaughn, are you and Chris ready to take Bobby and I on in the competition?" joked Vaughn.

"Only if you guys are," he teased back. "Speaking of Chris and Bobby, do you where those two ran off to? Chris just ran out of the car as soon as I parked and I think he said that he was going to play with Bobby."

Francie looked up from feeding Devin and nodded her head to the right. "They went to the soccer field to go play with Bobby's new ball," she replied.

"Thanks guys," Sydney answered as she and Vaughn sat down beside Francie and Will on the blanket.

* * *

Over at the playground, Bobby kicked the ball towards Chris, but missed and the ball rolled over to a car instead. The owner of the car stepped out, wearing sun glasses and a hat, looking very suspicious. 

"Hey mister! Can you throw the ball back here?" shouted Chris from the other side of the field.

"Sure thing, kid. By the way boys, shouldn't the two of you be playing where your parents can see you?"

"Umm… my mommy and daddy told me not to talk to strangers," Bobby blurted out quickly. The two of them ran off, back to their parents, not seeing the creepy smile on the man that was watching them run off.

* * *

"Mommy, I'm hungry," whined Chris. 

"Me too, mommy," added Bobby.

It was about lunchtime and a lot of the kids at the picnic were getting very hungry. The father/son competition was to start a little bit after one o'clock.

Francie opened up her picnic basket and started to pass out the sandwiches to everyone. "Here you guys go," she said.

Will came up from behind her a put his arm around her waist, then leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks hon," he told her.

"Eeew!" squealed Bobby and Chris. Bobby said to his parents, "Mommy and Daddy, that's just icky."

"Aww, come on you guys, when you both are older, you'll like girls just as much as me and Will do," teased Vaughn. Just like Will did, Vaughn put his arms around Sydney's waist.

"Michael! Mommy!" Bobby sighed exasperatedly. "That is just gross. When I grow up, I will never want to kiss any other girl, besides mommy," he stated firmly.

Sydney said laughing, "You guys are really funny. While you two were playing at the soccer field earlier, one of your classmates came up here looking for you two."

Bobby and Chris just looked at each, slapped their foreheads, rolled their eyes, and said to each other, "Oh no!"

"It wasn't smelly Kelly, was it mommy?" asked Chris.

"Boys, don't be mean to her. I thought that was absolutely sweet of her to come look for you two."

Bobby rolled his eyes once more, "But she is the smelliest girl in class! And besides, it's just icky for a girl to like me. I'm only in kindergarten! Why can't she like any other guys besides me and Chris!"

"Whatever you boys say…" said Vaughn.

After everyone had finished their lunch, everyone got up to go walk over to the competition field. Even though this father/son thing was for all of the little boys at the school, from kindergarten to fifth grade, it looked like Vaughn and Chris and Will and Bobby were pretty much set to win. Compared to all the other fathers there, Vaughn and Will were the most physically in shape because of their CIA training and conditioning.

The four guys sat down in the grass with all of the other people that were going to compete while Devin, whom Francie was carrying, and Sydney headed over to the trees to sit under the shade.

"Friends and family, I would like to welcome you all to the forty-seventh annual father and son competition and picnic," said the principal from her podium. "Let the games begin!"

* * *

ooh... interesting. hmm...  



	8. Chapter 8

Hey again guys!

* * *

Chapter 8

The way they determined the winners of the whole thing were that in each event, if they placed first, they get one point, and second, two points, and so on. The ones that had the least number of points would win the prize. However, no one knew what the prize was; only the principal knew.

All the boys had lined up at the starting line for their first event, the three legged race. Over at the sidelines, the women were shouting crazily, cheering their sons and husbands on. However, two voices were heard above everybody else.

"Go Chris! Go Vaughn!"

"Go Bobby! Go Will!"

All four guys quickly looked at them and waved. As soon as they weren't facing Francie and Sydney, they all muttered under their breaths, "Oh brother…"

The starting pistol was shot and everyone started to run for the finish line. Many of the teams had tripped and fallen along the way. Amazingly enough, Michael and Chris were leading the pack, followed closely by Will and Bobby.

"Faster Michael," giggled Chris.

Vaughn looked down at Chris and smiled to himself. Life was going real well for him. Other than the times he had spent with Sydney, Vaughn had never been that happy in his whole life.

As they were nearing the finish line, Vaughn's shoelaces came untied and he tripped over them. This allowed Bobby and Will to catch up to them, but in the end, it was a tie between the four of them.

They untied themselves and jogged over to where Sydney and Francie were standing.

"Awesome job, you guys," said Sydney as she gave all four guys a hug. "Especially you two," she added, talking to Chris and Bobby, "I'm really proud of you guys. You two were out there, beating all the big kids that are in fourth and fifth grade."

Will draped his arm around Francie and they were both beaming immensely. In fact, everyone had a smile a mile wide.

A couple of minutes passed and it was the time for the next event, the water balloon toss. Needless to say, that when children are at the age of five years old, they're not very good catchers.

The first couple of tosses, Chris had caught the water balloon, but when they were about five feet apart, he dropped it, causing the water to spray everywhere around; mostly all over Vaughn's legs and shoes.

"Sorry Michael," he grinned mischievously.

"Aww… come ere' u little rascal," he said as he pinned Chris to the ground and started tickling him.

"Michael," he giggled between breaths, "please… stop… uncle!"

Vaughn finally stopped tickling him, but not before putting Chris in a friendly headlock. "Let's go say hi to your mom, you knucklehead."

"Hey mommy," said Chris as they approached her.

"Hey sweetie," she said while she looked at Vaughn. Laughing, she asked, "What happened to your pants? They're all wet."

Vaughn didn't say anything; he just looked at Chris, who was trying to act all innocent. Just then, Will and Bobby walked up to them. Everyone was silent for five seconds, until they all burst into laughter.

"Will," Francie said as she gasped for air from her laughter, "You look like you just wet yourself. Couldn't hold it any longer, huh? You just had to go and pee yourself in the middle of the field," she teased some more.

He had a fake scowl on his face and said, "It was all your son's fault."

Francie threw her hands up in the air retorted, "Hey, it's not my fault that you didn't teach your son how to throw."

Both Will and Vaughn headed back to their cars to go get some dry clothes. By the time they got back, it was time for the next event, which was the sack race.

The boys headed out to field to get in position for their sack race. In this event, the sons went first, going all the way to the end of the soccer field and back, then the fathers followed.

Sydney and Francie were going to the front of the bleachers for better seats when they heard some single mothers from the ptsa gossiping.

"Look over there Helen," one woman said as she pointed to Vaughn. "That one sure looks yummy."

"I agree with you there, but look at that one he's talking too. That one sure is a cutie too," the other woman replied while she pointed at Will.

"Too bad they're both probably taken."

"Yeah," the other one agreed, "They're both probably divorced guys that are taken by some blonde twenty year olds."

Off to the side, Sydney and Francie were trying real hard to contain their laughter. Feeling her laughter die down some, Sydney decided to go talk to the women. "Excuse me ladies, do you mind if my friend and I sit here?" she asked.

"Sure, go ahead hon. I'm Helen by the way and this is my friend, Bessie."

"Nice to meet you both," Francie said as she shook both of their hands.

Smirking, Sydney asked, "Excuse me, but I couldn't help but overhear what you two were talking about. So, which of these very handsome fathers did you guys say were cute?"

"I'll be glad to show you," one of them said. "See those two guys over there with the little boys? Don't you two think that they're cute too?"

"Definitely!" Francie agreed while trying to suppress her laugh with a cough.

"So, which one of those guys out there are yours?" Bessie asked Francie and Syd.

"They're out there somewhere. They are near the end of the other sideline though."

Before she could continue what she was saying, the starter pistol was shot. All of the little boys out there managed to get their potato sacks on very quickly and traveled to the other side of the field. Every once in a while, someone would fall, but they quickly got up.

When it was time for the fathers to do their part of the race, they rapidly put the sacks on their feet, but to only find that it was too short for them. Every five or six hops all the grown men would fall flat on their face. Since Will and Vaughn were very tall, they only went about two hops before falling down. However, they both worked really fast and Vaughn pulled out a close victory over Will by a hop.

The guys jogged over to where the girls were sitting and both Vaughn and Will place their arms around their respected other's waist. The women that Francie and Sydney had been talking to earlier were gawking.

"Hey guys," Sydney said as she leaned in for a kiss. "Helen, Bessie, this is my boyfriend, Michael. And, that is Will, Francie's husband."

They turned a bright crimson red and replied, "Nice to meet you both, but I think Bessie and I have to go find our boys now. Nice to meet ya'll. Bye."

As soon as the two women were out of hearing distance, Francie and Sydney laughed real hard that everyone around them were staring. The boys just looked each other, trying to figure out what they were laughing about, but just shrugged their shoulders.

There were four more events left in the father/son competition. Just as they had done before, both Vaughn and Chris and Will and Bobby had done really well; always placing in one of the top three, easily breezing by the other competition.

It was now time for the final event, the obstacle course race. The sons were the first ones to run the obstacle course. After they ran it, they were to go back to their fathers and tag their hands so that the fathers could run the course.

Chris had done extremely well, he outran a lot of boys that were twice his age. When he got to the rope net, he had a little difficulty and fell behind to fifth place. However, with a lot of determination and cheering from his mom and Vaughn, he had gotten back up to second place once more.

Little Chris rounded the corner with his short legs and ran as fast as he could to Vaughn. He slapped Vaughn's hand, and Vaughn was off like a jet rocket. "Go," Chris panted between breaths, "Michael! Run Faster!"

It was now a two man race; there was no way that any of the other overgrown, couch potato, fathers could catch up with trained CIA agents. Will and Vaughn were neck and neck throughout the whole thing. The whole crowd of onlookers had lost interest in their husbands or fathers and focused their attention to Will and Vaughn.

Nobody was more excited than Francie, Sydney, Bobby, or Chris. All four of them were jumping up and down; from afar, they looked like a bunch of crazy mexican jumping beans.

As the two men rounded the final corner, Vaughn used his last bit of energy to pull out a win, just an inch ahead of Will. They both slowed down to a stop and fell to the ground real quickly, trying to breathe as heavily as they could.

The whole crowd was in an uproar of glee. No one had even bothered to look at the rest of the remaining fathers; they had all crowded around Will and Vaughn, who were now spread out on the grass.

It was Bobby and Chris that had reached them first. "Michael, you did such a good job! You too, Uncle Will!" said Chris as he gave both of them a hug.

"Daddy, you did your best. I'm proud of you," added Bobby, "Awesome last sprint there, Uncle Mike!"

Will and Vaughn looked at each other and anyone that saw them could see the look of happiness on their faces. Francie and Sydney pushed their way to the crowd and once they had reached their husband/boyfriend, they each planted a big kiss on them.

While most of the kids groaned in disgust, other parents looked on with such awe at how much those two families loved each other.

From the back, the principal was heard on the microphone. "Will everyone please settle down so we can get on with the awards ceremony."

They handed out ribbons and trophies for each of the first, second, and third place team in each event. Off to the side, Vaughn, Will, Bobby, and Chris had collected a hefty amount of the prizes after most of the event winners were announced.

"Ok, and now to announce the grand champions of the father/son competition," the principal said. "As a tribute to Mr. Hunter, our event coordinator for the past three decades that will be retiring this year, the winners will receive a very big prize."

A soft murmur spread through the crowd like a wildfire. All of the children's eyes were lit up with excitement.

"The winners for the forty-seventh annual father/son competition at Briarwoods Elementary are none other than Chris Bristow and Michael Vaughn. Followed by Bobby and Will Tippin, who came very close to them."

The two families hugged each other tightly and squealed with joy and excitement.

The principal continued, "It's my pleasure to announce that the grand prize for this year's competition is a full expense paid vacation to Disney land during the week of spring break."

Vaughn, Sydney, and Chris' mouths all hung open. They froze for five seconds, unsure if they heard what they thought they heard. Finally, after a couple more seconds, it clicked in their brains. They jumped up and down, ecstatic about the prize that they had just won.

"Yay! Spring break's in a week, Michael!" shouted Chris.

Vaughn put his arm around Sydney's waist and smiled at her. She beamed back at him and said, "Thank you," very quietly as she placed another kiss on his lips.

* * *

The same man that Bobby and Chris had encountered earlier was now sitting in the back on a park bench. From far away, it looked like that he was reading his newspaper and was only interested in that. 

However, the truth was, that he had been listening very intently to the principal's little speech and was now glad to have found out the information that he did.

"Disney land, huh…" he chuckled in disturbing way.

With that, he got up from where he was sitting, folded the newspaper and placed it under his arm. When he reached his car, he put one leg in, but turned around to look at the celebrating families.

"Michael Vaughn," he whispered to no one in particular, "You ruined my life, how about I ruin yours!"

* * *

So... how's everybody doing today? Anyways... sorry this was another fluffy/cheesy chapter. I promise that there will be some actual action coming up in Chapter 10. I promise. Well, hope you all have a good day! 


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The past week had been a blur for all of them. Chris could barely keep his excitement in during class, causing his teacher to threaten him with lunch detention if he wasn't quiet while class was in session. It was now Friday and they were leaving for Disney Land the following morning. Because it was the last day before spring break, all the students had an early release day, but the teachers had to work until the end of the normal school day. Vaughn had promised Sydney that he would pick up Chris for her and bring him straight to her house so that they could pack.

The school bell rung and Chris was out of his seat faster than any of the other students.

"Christopher, don't forget your backpack," his teacher called out from behind him. Grumbling about the fact that she called him Christopher, he made his way to her, grabbed his backpack and mumbled a thanks.

Before he knew it, he was out the front door and bounding down the stairs with his short legs. "Michael!" he yelled out.

Vaughn had parked his car, a 61' corvette, in front of the school and was now leaning up against it, talking to Francie. All of the other moms in their cars were green with envy at the fact that Francie was talking to this gorgeous guy, who everyone was drooling over.

"Well, I guess I'll talk to you later Fran. Chris looks like he's going to explode if we don't leave soon," Vaughn chuckled.

"I'll talk to you guys when you all get back. Have fun."

Before Vaughn could say bye, he was toppled over by Chris who had been running real fast towards Vaughn.

"Michael, Michael, Michael," he babbled real fast. "Can we go now? Can we go now? Can we go now? Please, Please, Please?"

"Whoa, calm down kiddo. What are they feeding you kids now a days, anyways?" he laughed. "I was thinking, before I take you home, how about we go over to your mom's school and surprise her with some lunch?"

Chris' eyes lit up at the mention of Sydney. "Yeah! That's a great idea Michael… Can I get something to eat too? I kinda didn't eat my lunch because I was too excited about you coming to pick me up and about Disney and… and… just everything!"

* * *

Sydney's School 

Sydney was sitting at her desk, grading the final tests of her students, when someone knocked on her door. Not expecting anyone to come by, she looked up to see who it was. The person that she saw at the door made her groan inwardly.

It was Mr. Lafferty, another English teacher that had been asking her out ever since she started teaching at the school.

"Hey Nate," she said, "Before you can even ask, I'm going to say no right now."

"Aww… come on Syd, you don't even know what I'm going to ask. And besides, how come I can never come up to any single female teachers without them thinking that I'm going to ask them out?"

"First of all, don't call me Syd, it's Sydney to you. And secondly, don't even pretend that you didn't come in here to ask me what I was doing during spring break and to ask me out," she glared playfully at him.

"So what? So, do you have any plans for spring break then? Wait, let me take back that question, because I know what you're plans for spring break are. You're going to spend it with me," he said arrogantly.

"This is the last time I'm going to tell you to stop asking me out Nate," she threatened, "If you don't stop, I will be forced to call security or use bodily harm on you."

"Yeah right, Syd-ney," he emphasized, "You're just a dainty little woman that's probably never thrown a punch her entire life. I'm telling you, what you need is a guy like me."

"Sorry, but I already have the perfect man for me," she retorted.

"Sorry to tell you, but your son doesn't count as the perfect man for you."

Just then, there was a knock at the door and before Sydney could call out for them to come in, the door swung open. Vaughn and Chris stepped into the classroom with a bag of Chinese take-out.

"Hey Syd," Vaughn started, "Oh, sorry to interrupt your meeting, Chris and I will come back in a couple of minutes then…"

"No!" she yelped a little too loudly. "What I meant to say is, is that this meeting is over anyways, so you guys can stay. Mr. Lafferty was just on his way out."

"I was?" he asked incredulously. "And who might you be?" he inquired while trying to size up Vaughn.

"Hi, Michael Vaughn," he said as he stuck out his hand. "I'm Sydney's boyfriend."

From behind Vaughn, a tiny voice that was trying to sound all mighty was heard, "I'm Jonathan Christopher Bristow." He stuck his head out from behind Vaughn and waved to Sydney, "Hi Mommy."

"That's right Nate," satisfied that his mouth was hanging wide open.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to go back to my classroom now. Nice to meet you, Michael, Chris," he said hurriedly as he sped out the door, seeing that Sydney's boyfriend could easily take him.

Vaughn just chuckled as soon as he was out the door. "Who was that guy? Oh well, it doesn't matter."

Sydney went up to Vaughn and Chris and gave then a proper hello by giving them a hug and kiss. "Don't worry about him, he's just some random teacher that doesn't seem to get a clue… until you showed up, that is," she grinned widely. "By the way, what are you guys doing here? Aren't you guys supposed to be at home packing?" she asked, doing the one eyebrow raise at them.

"Mommy, we brought you lunch!" Chris smiled triumphantly as he held up a bag of takeout.

"Oh my gosh, thank you guys so much! You guys just saved me the trouble of having to go down to the cafeteria and trying to find out the mystery behind the mystery meat."

"Blech…" Chris commented.

"Well, I guess we have to be going now. Chris and I have some guy stuff we have to do," Vaughn teased.

"Guy stuff?" she replied very slowly. "Uh...yeah… I'll see you guys at home later. Have fun doing your guy stuff," she kidded.

As Chris and Vaughn were headed out the door, a couple of Sydney's teacher friends walked in. On his way out, it was a clear as crystal that all of them were checking him out. As soon as they thought that he had rounded the corner, they immediately attacked Sydney, asking questions and laughing very loudly.

Out of sight and out of hearing distance, Vaughn rolled his eyes and muttered, "Women…"

Chris saw and heard him do this, and did the same. Vaughn looked down at Chris, tousled his hair. "Hey champ, how about we go see Grandpa Jack this afternoon before we start packing? What do you say?"

Chris eyes sparkled up like the fourth of July. "Grandpa Jack! Grandpa Jack!"

* * *

Jack's house 

The doorbell rung and a very well dressed Jack answered the door. "Grandpa Jack!" exclaimed Chris as soon as the door opened. He ran straight to Jack and toppled him to the floor.

"Chris, what a pleasant surprise," he replied in a delight. He looked over Chris' shoulder and saw that Vaughn was standing there shyly, like a young teenager waiting for his date. "Mr. Vaughn, pleasure to see you as well," Jack said as he nodded his head towards Vaughn.

"Jack," he responded while Jack stood up to shake his hand.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"I came here because I needed to discuss something with you… in private if possible. Syd asked me to pick Chris up from school, so that's why he's here with me."

"Ok then, Mr. Vaughn. Chris, how would like some desert while Michael and I talk about some grown-up stuff?"

"Chocolate ice cream with syrup and sprinkles?" he asked like a kid on Christmas morning.

Jack chuckled, "Sure, you can even watch one of those movies that you left behind here. I think it was Finding Nemo or something like that."

Vaughn snickered from behind, "I don't think that's Chris' copy of Finding Nemo. Chris and I just watched it this weekend over at his house."

"Well then, Sydney probably bought Chris two copies of the same movie, Mr. Vaughn," he emphasized, calling him by his last name.

"Ok, now that that's settled, follow me so we can get Chris his desert."

As Jack was moving around in his kitchen, fixing Chris his ice cream sundae, Vaughn couldn't help, but be amazed at how much Chris had softened Jack up. Any traces of the cold hearted Jack that he once knew a decade ago was now gone whenever he was around Chris.

Once Jack was done making the sundae and Chris was on the couch watching his movie, Jack directed Vaughn to follow him into his office.

* * *

Jack's home office 

"So… what's up, Mr. Vaughn?"

"Umm…" he started. "Well, first of all, can you just call me Michael, instead of Mr. Vaughn? It just makes me feel weird, since I call you Jack. I feel like I should be the one calling you Mr. Bristow or something like that."

"Well, that's fine and dandy, Michael, but I know you didn't come here to discuss with me on what to call you. Just tell me what you wanted to talk about."

"Ok, Sydney probably already told you how Chris and I won the father/son competition at his school and how the three of us won a trip to Disney Land."

"Yes, she did…" Jack commented.

Vaughn continued, "Well sir, Jack, I want you to know that I love both your daughter very much and I love Chris as if he were my own son."

"Continue," Jack said while motioning with his hands and leaning back in his office chair.

"And I know that Sydney feels the same way about me. So, with your permission I would like to ask you for your blessing for Sydney and me to get married. I was thinking about proposing to her during this little vacation."

Jack sat up in his chair slowly, folding his hands and bringing them to his face. He pretended to be in a deep concentration, when if fact, he couldn't think of a better person than Vaughn to marry Sydney.

"Hmm…" Jack sighed once more. Just to tease Vaughn, he waited another extra ten seconds before finally saying, "Welcome to the family son."

Vaughn broke out into a huge smile and stuck his hand out for Jack to shake. But Jack surprised him instead by declining the handshake and giving him a hug.

* * *

so... good, bad? what do you guys think? well, since i've had a four-day weekend (woo hoo!), the next chapter is also up!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Chris we better get going," Vaughn called out to Chris.

"Coming, Michael!"

Vaughn turned his attention to Jack and said, "Thank you very much for your blessing, Jack. You don't know how much you're approval means to me. And how much it'll mean to Sydney too when I ask her. But, Chris and I have to leave now. I have to go talk about this with him. Then, I'm off to go ring shopping."

Jack smiled and replied, "Have fun at Disney Land. But…," he paused, "You better keep them safe."

"Don't worry Jack, I will." _For my sake, I better keep them safe_,he thought.

* * *

Vaughn and Chris entered the car and buckled up. "You ready to go, buddy?" asked Vaughn. 

"Yep!" was Chris' gleeful response.

For the next five minutes, Vaughn just drove while listening to Chris happily babble about the movie he was watching. He found it amusing that at the age of five, Chris could talk about lots of different things as if he were older than his age.

Finally, Vaughn was about to pass a park when he pulled into the parking lot. "Michael, what are we doing here?" questioned Chris.

"How about we go on the swings before I start talking? Is that alright?"

"Um… ok," he shrugged back.

When they reached the swings, Chris sat in one and Vaughn sat in the one beside him.

"So…" Vaughn started off.

"So… what, Michael? What's up?"

"Chris, this is kind of difficult for me to ask. Let me think how I'm going to say this," he paused with a sigh, "Um… what do you think about me?"

"I think you're the greatest person in the world, Michael! … Well, other than mommy, of course," he beamed.

Vaughn grinned and ruffled Chris' hair up a bit. "I have to agree with you there, buddy. You're mom is one great person. So," he sighed one more time and thought to himself, _why is this more difficult than talking to Jack! _He continued, "How would you feel if I married you're mommy?"

"You mean like you would be mommy's husband… and you would be my daddy?" he asked with a hoping voice.

"Yeah…"

"I think that would be so awesome, Michael! Then you can live with me and mommy and teach me how to play baseball and help me with my homework and let me stay up at night and you would pick me up after school and…"

"Breathe!" Vaughn chuckled. "I'm glad that you think that," he grinned. "But, for now, this will be our little secret. So, no telling your mom until I ask her, okay?"

"I cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye," Chris recited while doing the hand motions.

"Uh, yeah…" Vaughn laughed uneasily. _The things that kids pick up from one another these days…_ "Well, let's go home and pack."

"Yay! Disney Land, Disney Land!"

* * *

Sydney's House 

Saturday Morning

When Sydney got home yesterday afternoon, instead of finding Vaughn helping Chris to pack his suitcase, she found them cooking dinner. She was a little upset at them for not packing, but was touched that they cooked her dinner.

Oddly, right after dinner, Vaughn didn't stay as long as he normally did, muttering something about an errand he had to do. She thought something was up when Vaughn and Chris looked at each other and smiled, but she just brushed it off.

It was now 7:45 in the morning and things were very hectic. Vaughn told them that he would pick them up at 8:00, giving Sydney and Chris only fifteen more minutes to finish packing.

Sydney was passing by the bathroom to get their toiletries when she saw the Chris had fallen asleep while brushing his teeth.

"Chris, wake up," she nudged him

"Five more minutes, mommy," he mumbled.

"Honey, wake up. We still have to finish packing and Michael will be here in fifteen minutes…" she stopped. The doorbell had rung and she groaned. "Chris, sweetie, you have to wake up now and go answer the door for Michael, he's here early."

After hearing the word Michael, Chris' eyes flew open and he happily walked to the door. "Michael!" He gave him a hug and went back to his room to go get changed.

"Hey, what are you doing here so early?" Sydney asked.

"I'm not that early, Syd. It's only five more minutes till eight. And by the looks of things, it seems as if it will be another ten minutes before you're ready. So, I'll just go put the suitcases in your car."

"Well, I would be ready if a certain someone… ahem," she cleared her throat, "had helped my son pack yesterday like he promised."

"Sorry about that," he said warily. "But, you still keep me around anyways," he laughed.

"You know that's right," she said back.

* * *

Outside of Sydney's house, the same black dark blue sedan that was parked outside a couple weeks ago was there once again. When the driver saw Vaughn, Sydney, and Chris get in the car, he put his hands on the key ignition. Once they were a block away, the driver started the car and followed them all the way to Disney Land.

* * *

Vaughn pulled into the gigantic parking lot and all three of them had their mouths gaping at the sight before them. 

Left and right, Chris kept pointing to one ride and then another, asking Sydney, "Can we ride that? Over there, can we ride that? What about that one?..."

Vaughn and Sydney looked at one another and smiled. "Calm down, Chris," Sydney said, "Before we can go on the rides, we have to check into the resort first."

"Resort? What's that, Michael?"

"Well, buddy, a resort is like a really expensive hotel. It has water slides there and big pools and all that stuff that you really like."

"Cool…" he trailed off, just taking in the sights in front of him.

They checked into the hotel and took their baggage up to their suite.

Sydney placed a sweet kiss on Vaughn's cheek once he opened the door to their room.

"What was that for?" he asked, confused. "I mean not that I didn't like it but… yah…"

"Well, for you and Chris winning this for us, of course," she said as she motioned to everything around her.

"Can we go now?" Chris asked, very anxious to get on the rides.

* * *

Disneyland 

"Ticket, please," the ticket lady said.

"Here you go, ma'am," Vaughn said as he handed her the tickets.

As they were going through the gate, he felt a tug on his shirt and looked down to see Chris crossing his legs and jumping around.

"Michael, I have to go use the potty real badly," he whispered.

"Sure buddy, your mom and I will wait right outside of the bathroom. Don't forget to wash your hands."

"Yeah, yeah," he called out while jetting off into the bathroom.

* * *

Inside the bathroom 

Chris was just finishing washing his hands when he felt a tap on his shoulder. The man was wearing black sunglasses, a black hat, and a Disneyland worker uniform.

"Hey kid," he said sweetly. "Your mom and her boyfriend told me to get you and bring you to the carousel, where they're at right now."

"Um… ok mister." Not knowing that he was about to be kidnapped, Chris innocently grabbed the strange man's hand and was led away through the other exit of the bathroom.

* * *

dun dun dun! enter suspense music! lol. anways... moving right along, everybody having a good start to week so far? ok well, im off to go spend the rest of my day relaxing! laters. 


	11. Chapter 11

Hey guys... I'm really really sorry about not updating for a while. School has been hectic and life in general as well. So to make up for it, here'sa three chapter update! Hope you guys like it.

* * *

Chapter 11

Outside the bathroom

Vaughn and Sydney were now sitting outside the bathroom on a nearby bench. He looked over at her and smiled at her.

"What?"

"You're beaming," he laughed.

"Michael Vaughn! I am not beaming!"

He laughed once more and said, "Yeah Syd, you're definitely beaming."

"So what if I am. It's just that this is my first family vacation ever since…"

"Yeah…" he continued for her, "ever since your mom "died"." He squeezed her hand as a sign of comfort.

They sat out there for five more minutes, holding hands before Sydney spoke up, "I wonder what's taking Chris so long."

"Maybe he's going number two…" Vaughn joked.

Five minutes later, Chris hadn't come out of the bathroom and they were getting really worried. "Let me go check on him for a sec, Syd."

Vaughn went into the bathroom and checked every open stall. He yelled out Chris' name five times and got no response except for weird looks from other people. From then on, Vaughn was beginning to panic.

"Excuse me sir," he asked a man that was washing his hand, "Have you seen a little boy, brown hair and green eyes?"

He kept on questioning everyone that was in there, fear starting sink in. But, no one around him had seen Chris leave at all.

He ran outside to a very panic stricken Sydney, dreading the news he was about to bear. "Did you find him?"

"I'm sorry Syd, he wasn't in there…"

"Oh my gosh, Chris! Vaughn, we have to find him. We just have to."

"Ok, but first, we have to calm down. For all we know, he could be outside in one of those rides. Let's split up and meet back here in one hour. If we don't find him by then, we'll report him missing."

"Ok…," she said, "Here, take this picture of Chris so you can ask people if they've seen him anywhere."

"Thanks. Don't worry, Syd. We will find him."

One Hour Later

An hour later and still no sign of Chris anywhere. Sydney had gotten to their meeting spot first and was now trying real hard to hold her composure. When she saw Vaughn rounding the corner, but no Chris, she felt a whole lot worse than she did on those CIA missions that she used to do.

They walked to the security office to report Chris' disappearance. However, the officer on duty at the time wasn't being very helpful at all.

"I don't want to fill out this paperwork!" yelled Vaughn as he slammed the papers down onto the table. "All I want to do is go out there and find Chris."

"Sir, you're going to have to calm down or else we will have to escort you off the premises."

Sydney put her hand on Vaughn's shoulder and she looked into his eyes. _I have to be strong for Sydney. This is no time to get mad,_ Vaughn thought.

After filling out all the necessary paperwork and putting an announcement over the PA system, there was still no word about Chris. The hour turned into two hours, then into three. Finally, Vaughn felt that it was time to call in reinforcements.

Within forty-five minutes, Jack, Eric, Will, and Marshall were there. "Daddy!" Sydney said as she hugged Jack.

"It's going to be alright, sweetheart," he said, trying to soothe her.

"Thanks for coming guys," Vaughn said. "Syd and I have been all over the park and we still haven't found Chris. The officers believe that he might not be on the grounds anymore. And we've asked to see video tape footage, but they won't let us. They said that the "lost person" has to be missing for at least eight hours."

"Is that so?" asked Jack in an angry tone. He walked over to the security cameras office and knocked twice on the door.

"I'm sorry sir, we can't allow unauthorized personnel in here."

"Cut the bull, I have clearance," he said while flashing his CIA badge. "We all have security clearance," he added, pushing the weakling security guard aside.

It took another five minutes before Marshall had finally sifted through the past hours video tapings before finding the one showing Chris leaving with an unknown man.

"Chris!" Sydney exclaimed.

"Syd, it'll be alright… Chris is a brave and smart boy. He's going to be alright, you just have to believe that," Vaughn said, trying to comfort her.

"There," Eric said, pointing to the screen. "He turned his head around. Marshall, do you think you can get it to look a whole lot clearer so we can make a positive id?"

"Sure, but it'll take me at least an hour. With the technology I had before, it would take me two days, but now it's so quick and productive. It's just not the same as before. I mean the…"

"Marshall!" Jack snapped. "Shut up, stop babbling, and start trying to get the image clearer." He turned to Vaughn and Sydney who were standing by the door. "Sydney, Vaughn, you two wait outside while we get this image clearer. I'll call you guys once it's done."

"Ok, Jack…"

Outside

The two of them took a seat on a nearby couch, trying real hard to have a façade that they were remaining strong.

"Syd, I know it's probably too early to start guessing who it was that took Chris, but do you know of anyone that recently has a grudge against you?"

She snorted, "Vaughn, I used to work for the CIA. There could be millions and millions of people that could have taken Chris because of the work I did for SD-6 and the CIA."

"Well, most of them are either locked up in jail or dead. How about co-workers at school?"

"The only guy that would hold a grudge against me for turning them down is Nate, but he's just a harmless little fly."

"Ok…" Vaughn trailed off. Five minutes later, he asked, "Syd, I know this might not be what you would want to here, but what about Chris' biological father? Whatever happened to him?"

Sydney gave a halfway smile and replied, "I was wondering when you would ask about him. I know that if I was you, I would've been dying with curiosity."

"Well, I didn't want to make you uncomfortable about that topic, so I never asked," he replied sweetly, giving Sydney's hand a small squeeze.

"Well, let's see. I met Chris' biological father through Eric and Will. At the time, I had already quit the CIA and he moved to the LA office. He became friends with Eric and Will and they set me up with him."

"What was his name?"

Sydney continued, "His name was Matthew Webb. We dated for five months and then I became pregnant. I mean, I really thought that he loved me. But, the morning after I told him that I was pregnant, I called his phone, but it said that it had been disconnected. That was the last I ever heard of him. When I asked Devlin whatever happened to him, he said that it was classified."

"You mean, you're Dad never went after him or say… tried to kill him for leaving you?"

"No… I never told my Dad about it until I was five months pregnant. By that time, Matt would have been far away. All I told my Dad was that Matt and I broke up. When Eric and Will found out, they felt really horrible about setting me up with him, but I told them it was all alright. I mean after all, I have Chris now. Or I hope I still have him…"

"Syd, you have to be strong. You can't doubt the fact that we will find him. With your dad and the rest of us trying to find Chris, there's no doubt at all that we will find him."

"Thanks Vaughn," she said giving him a hug, "I really need to hear that."

Just then, Jack walked outside and told them, "The image is almost done. Just another thirty seconds and we can get an ID on this guy."

As Vaughn and Sydney were following Jack back in the door, Sydney's cell phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hello, love," a British accent was heard.

Through the doors, Eric, Will, and Marshall screamed, "Sydney, you better come in here! We know who took Chris!"

"Missing your son?" the voice on the other end of the cell phone said.

Sydney's anger was raging within her and she managed to seethe through her teeth and whisper with fury, "Sark…"

* * *

dun dun dun... read the next chapter and find out what happens next!


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Vaughn whipped his head around real quickly at the mention of Sark's name. "SARK!" he yelled angrily. "I thought I locked him up for good in that hellhole in the Congo."

On the other end of the cell phone, Sark said to Sydney, "Ah… is that Mr. Vaughn I hear on the other end?" he said arrogantly, "Well, tell him I said hello and that he really should think about upgrading the security in the facilities where the CIA holds their top enemies."

"Sark! Where's Chris! I'm telling you, if you lay a hand on him, I swear that I will kill you with my bare hands!" Sydney screamed in the phone.

"Tsk… Tsk… I see you still have your anger issues. Moving right along," he said in his conceited British accent, "I will contact you in six hours regarding my demands."

The line went dead and Sydney furiously slammed her cell phone on the table. She sunk down in her chair, letting her conversation with Sark sink into her brain. "They have him… they really have him…" she whimpered out, letting a single tear escape down her face.

Vaughn put his hand on her cheek and wiped away the single tear with his thumb. "C'mon Syd, it's going to be fine. Chris is stronger than both off us put together; Sark's going to have his hands full with Chris around him. Besides, with all of us working on getting Chris back, I betcha that you'll be eating dinner with him tonight." _And I will be putting that little son of a gun back where he belongs._

Finally, Jack spoke up and hollered to Weiss, Marshall, and Will, "Get Dixon on the phone and tell him about our situation here. I want as much manpower working on getting Chris back. He turned his attention back to Vaughn and said to him, "Mr. Vaughn, am I correct in assuming that you were the undisclosed agent that locked Sark up seven years ago."

"Yeah… I wanted to keep it classified so that nobody could go after the ones close to me… seems that I was wrong about that."

Sydney asked Vaughn, "If you don't mind us asking, what happened? How did you capture him?"

"Well, it was about two years after I divorced Lauren and ever since then, I devoted myself to my job, working night and day trying to lock away all the enemies of the country."

Sydney winced when she heard Vaughn mention Lauren, which didn't go unnoticed by either him or Jack.

Vaughn continued, "I was working on this one case, regarding the covenant and this bomb maker, Daniel Ryan. We had taken captive of Ryan, but he had planted a bomb somewhere before his capture, so we had to get the location of the bomb before he blew up that place. Apparently, the only person he said he would deal with was Sark."

"Ok…what happened after that?" asked Jack.

"Well, posing as Sark, Ryan told me that I would be given the details on a flight from Rome to Paris by an associate of his that will know what Sark looks like. He told me that the bombing would be called off once his associate meets with Sark. So, I got on the same flight, thinking that this could be like killing two birds with one stone, capturing Sark and Ryan's accomplice. But, the associate never showed up, meaning that Ryan wanted Sark on that plane so that he could kill him. The bomb was actually on that plane."

Hearing this Sydney gasped, "You mean that was your plane that was all over the news a couple years back?"

"Yeah… It's funny… the bomb was diffused with Sark's help. But, after securing the bomb, I arrested him and locked him up deep in the Congo where I thought no one could find him."

Weiss' head peeked through the other door, he had one hand covering his cell phone and he said, "Hey guys, sorry to break up this moment, but I've got Dixon on the other end. He says that since we're dealing with Sark, we're going to pull out everything we've got to get him and to get Chris back."

"That's great!" Sydney said enthusiastically after hearing the first good news of the day.

Eric said goodbye to Dixon who was on the other line and continued, "Yeah, he said that there will be a recon team coming up here and that all of Marshall's gadgets will be sent up here too."

Six hours later

After six hours of waiting and trepidation, Sydney's cell phone rang. Everyone quickly hushed up and the room went dead silent. "Hello?"

"Good to hear your voice again Sydney," Sark arrogantly.

"Sark! Where's Chris! Let me talk to him!" she demanded.

"Now just hold on a minute, mommy dearest. First, I want you to meet my demands before dear little Christopher can be let go unharmed."

Finally Vaughn, who had been listening in on the speaker phone, couldn't take it any longer. "SARK! Let Sydney talk to Chris NOW!"

"Mr. Vaughn, so nice to talk to you. It's a shame that our last chat seven years ago didn't last that long. That doesn't matter now."

"Just tell us what you want!" snapped Sydney.

"Well, first off, I would like all my money back. I want it transferred into account 15796328410 in the Cayman Islands by noon tomorrow. In case you've forgotten, I had nearly three million. Second, I want Sydney to come and get Chris… by herself. No CIA or FBI, just herself, or else poor little Chris might not calm back all unharmed."

"Just don't touch him! I'll be wherever you want me to be."

"That's great to hear, I'll be in contact in a couple of hours… when it will be just the two of us talking and no one else listening in."

The line went silent and Sydney looked to Marshall. "Did you get his location?" she asked anxiously.

Marshall said hesitantly, "Yeah… but he was using a whole series of connected calls that it will take me at least a couple of hours to figure out where he was calling from. I mean, the first three connections go from Canada to Algeria to Moscow to who knows where else."

"Just do the best you can, Marshall," said Jack. He turned his attention to Sydney and Vaughn, "You two probably haven't eaten since this morning. I suggest that the two of you go back to your hotel and rest for a little while and eat. I'll call you if there is any new news."

Vaughn nodded to Jack and put his arm around Sydney. He led her back to the car and they drove back to their hotel with faith that Chris will be found soon.

* * *

Now do you think I'll just let the bad guy get away with all this...? I think not... click to read the next chapter ). 


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Just as Vaughn was helping Sydney out of the car, her cell phone rang. Startled by the ring, she jumped a little before answering the phone. "Hello?"

"Sydney, it's me," Jack's voice was heard. "Marshall was playing back your conversation with Sark and was able to pick up some very faint sounds in the background. Well, he was able to amplify the sound and we actually know where he's headed. Here, take a listen," he said played back the recording for Sydney.

"Flight 740, flying from Sacramento International to Manila International, is now boarding all passengers."

"The Philippines?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm not sure why he's going there either, but a team has already been assembled and they're going to be flying out there and we hope that they'll get there before Sark gets there."

"That's wonderful, dad. Hold on one second and let me tell Vaughn."

"So, what's up?" asked Vaughn when he saw that she was covering the cell phone with one hand.

"It appears that Sark is flying out to the Philippines, so a team has been assembled to intercept him and they're flying out now."

After hearing this, Vaughn said, "Tell your dad to wait a little while longer before sending this team off. I'm going with them too. I promise you, I'll get Chris back."

Before she could respond, he kissed her, lingering like that for more than what was necessary. "Be safe."

He had one foot out the door before Sydney quickly said, "Vaughn."

"Yeah?" he asked looking back at her.

"Be careful too… I love you."

He had a smile a mile wide. He replied back to her, "I love you too."

Flight 740

"I want my mommy!" yelled Chris.

"Everything alright here, sir?" asked one of the flight attendants.

In a normal American accent, Sark answered, "Yeah, little Chris here just misses his mom. I guess he just doesn't like traveling with Uncle Julian."

Squatting down and getting to Chris' eye level, the flight attendant asked Chris, "Is this true? Are you sure you're fine?"

Chris felt Sark's cold stare going through his body and answered softly, "Yes ma'am."

The flight attendant left them alone and Sark turned his attention to Chris. "If you do something else like that, who knows what might happen to your mommy or her boyfriend or even worse… you."

"I'm not afraid of you! Michael and mommy are going to kick your butt once they get their hands on you."

"We'll see," Sark said. He looked at his watch and saw that it was time to call Sydney. He dialed in the numbers and waited for her to pick up.

Disneyland security office

Vaughn had arrived back at Disneyland in record time, probably breaking every single speed limit along the way. "Eric!" he yelled out.

"Hey Mike, you got here just in time. The team's already in the van, waiting to head out to the airport."

"That's great and all, but do you think you can stall them for another couple of minutes. I need to go talk to Jack."

"Well, you're not going to find him here."

"Why not?" he asked, very confused.

"If you're worried about Sydney being by herself at the hotel, Jack's got that covered. He and a surveillance team are outside your hotel room. I'm about to head over there myself right now."

"Ok, thanks," Vaughn said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm trusting you to keep her safe while I'm away. Don't let her do anything stupid, like go after Sark by herself. If it does come down to her going after Sark, then I want you to go with her."

"You can trust me. C'mon, has your good ole' buddy Eric ever let you down?" he joked, trying to lighten the mood. "Good luck and stay safe."

The hotel

Sydney had been lying down on the bed, channel surfing while waiting for Sark's call. She had finally decided to watch a show on spies when her cell phone rang.

"Sark?"

"Well hello to you too."

"Just tell me where you want me to meet you. I'm getting really sick of this cat and mouse game."

"But Sydney," he said in a mocking voice, "The fun's just begun."

"Sark!" she screamed.

"Ooh… feisty. Just the way I like it."

Sydney just groaned in disgust. "Sark, why does it have to be only me that comes and gets Chris anyways?"

"Sydney, Sydney, Sydney… You mean to tell me that you still haven't figured it out. You and I are meant to be together."

"You'll never be half the man that Vaughn is. Even if you were the last man on earth, I still wouldn't go to you. Now let me talk to Chris."

"After you just shot me down like that? I don't think so. Ask nicely."

She groaned once again in frustration. "Sark… please let me talk to Chris."

"Hmm… since you asked so politely, here."

"Chris?"

"Mommy! I miss you."

"I miss you too sweetheart. Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you?"

"I'm fine mommy. When are you going to come get me?"

"Soon honey, very soon. I love you."

"I love you too mommy."

Sark yanked the phone away from Chris and said to Sydney, "Ok, that's enough of that. Meet me in Moscow tomorrow. Noon, their time. I'll be waiting." He hung up the phone and grinned evilly to himself.

As soon as Weiss had arrived in the van outside of Sydney's hotel, Jack had sent him to go check on her. He had his hand up to the door, ready to knock, when Sydney pulled the door open.

"Syd, hi. How are you doing?"

"Um… come in," she ushered him into the room very quickly.

"Going somewhere?" Weiss raised his eyebrows at her. "If you're thinking about leaving here to go get Sark by yourself, I guess you should know that your dad is sitting outside in a van. But, I'll be willing to help you get out of here if you let me come with you."

"I bet you that Vaughn probably had this all planned out before he left, right?"

Weiss tried real hard to avoid eye contact with her by looking down at his feet. "Maybe…"

"Weiss," she said sternly.

He looked up and answered her, "Yeah, he asked me to watch out after you. But, don't blame him; the guy just wants to look out for your safety."

Sydney pretended to look angry at him, but she couldn't hold her smile in. "So, are we going to get this show on the road, or what?"

"Yeah. But," he added, "you're going to tell your dad where we're going once we're halfway through our flight. By the way, where are we going?"

"Moscow." _Hopefully Vaughn will have already caught Sark in the Philippines, so I won't see him in Moscow._

Los Angeles International Airport

Sydney had just purchased their tickets and now, she and Weiss were browsing through some airport shops, looking for clothing.

"Hey Syd, what do you think of this?" he asked, holding up a ridiculously looking parka.

"Weiss," she replied laughing, "that is the most ridiculous coat I have ever seen. It looks like a bear exploded on it and all the fur remained stuck. Besides, we need clothes that will help us move stealthily. Not clothes that will make us look like stupid tourists."

He just shrugged his shoulders at her and moved on, looking for something that will keep him warm. Once again, he was holding up another impractical outfit. "Syd, is this better?" he asked jokingly.

Sydney didn't say anything, but just narrowed her eyes at him.

Weiss was holding up a tight black bodysuit. "What? You're the one always wearing these things on your old missions. It looked like it helped you move 'stealthily'"

"I'd like to see you fit into one of those," she snickered.

After ten more minutes of browsing through some clothes, they had made their purchases just as the intercom was calling all the passengers for their flight to board.

"C'mon Syd. Let's go get that son of yours."

* * *

Le sigh... I love Weiss too. Haha. He cracks me up a lot. And just as a shamelss plug... Greg Grunberg will be House in some upcoming episode. Wee! Ok, when I start speaking like a crazy person, I know it means time to go to bed. So, hope you guys like the three-chapter update! I promise I'll try and get more done soon! 


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